They moved around her outstretched arms and ran out the door. They grabbed their dog, who by now had partially recovered and ran off laughing.
Jonathan sat up a bit dazed. He checked himself over. A few bites but none too deep. The blood flow looked spectacular but he knew no real damage had been done. Little Ben ran to him and threw his arms around his neck crying in shock. Jonathan managed to pick him up and handed him to Olivia. Their eyes met. “You had better come with me,” she said, walking towards the stairs.
“What? Up into your private and personal sanctum?” said Jonathan sarcastically. “I don’t think so.”
“Look, I have some bandages and antiseptic cream up there. I cannot have you in the shop dripping blood. Can I?”
“Okay,” said Jonathan and meekly followed her up into the kitchen. Eli meanwhile started to tidy up.
They sat at the round kitchen table in silence as Olivia found the antiseptic cream and plasters. She took a wet sponge and cleaned the bite wounds from his arm and chest, dried them on a towel and then added the cream and plasters. In all Jonathan had been lucky, the force of the dive must have winded the dog and no bite was deep.
Olivia kept on trying to say something and Jonathan did not make it easy. Finally she thanked him for saving Ben.
“No problem” he replied, flashing her his best winning smile. This time it only irritated her a bit.
Life after that became easier. Olivia was still the boss but she did not give Jonathan such a hard time and he found himself looking forward to his days in the shop. It was different but familiar and he felt his mother would approve of what was going on.
Chapter 9
The Deal
John Sea’s immaculate 1962 Bentley pulled up alongside the Embankment, three hundred yards from Big Ben, the home of the UK’s Government and the centre of London’s power. It was a beautiful evening with the sun still trying to shine and a small breeze bringing the smell of the Thames to him as he walked towards the boat. As it was such a lovely evening there was quite a few people strolling about but he soon realized what a great place this was to meet as it was busy but the pavement was wide and not crowded and there was plenty of room for a private conversation.
He looked back and a large black Mercedes pulled up behind his car. It had black, tinted privacy glass and diplomatic flags flying on both wings. These basically allowed it carte blanch in the London streets, able to park wherever the driver wanted. Sir Thomas got out. He was over six feet tall with a mop of grey, swept back hair, a navy blue suit with white pinstripes and a crisp, white shirt. With a red tie and scrubbed face to complete the look, he appeared to all the world like a politician and, in some ways, he was.
He walked over to John. “How are you my dear friend?” he said with a wide warm smile. He shook John’s hand then took his arm. “Let’s go for a short walk, shall we?”
As he stepped forward two large men in dark suits detached themselves from the Embankment wall fifty feet in front of them. John knew fifty feet behind there would be two more men and on the other side of the road six more men would be strolling along seemingly placed at random but forming in all a classic secure box formation.
On the high rise buildings opposite on the other side of the Thames where they had a clear view, snipers would be following every move with spotters looking at all the roads leading down to the river and sweeping the area for any danger. The black Mercedes would also be cruising along behind for a quick getaway, the diplomatic flags allowing it the freedom to creep along one of the busiest stretches of road in London.
“I have a problem which I need you to solve for me,” said Sir Thomas.
“Oh,” said John. “What is it?”
“Well, since your time with us you would have heard of The Firm?”
John nodded.
“And you would also of heard of its creator and mentor, the so called Grey Man?”
“Oh yeah, I have heard of him and his two friends. They cost me a lot of money last year,” replied John.
“Well, The Firm has got much bigger recently with a very wide and dangerous scope and I feel it would be better for the country if it came more under our control,” explained Sir Thomas.
“You mean your control.”
“Indeed.”
“Well, good luck,” said John. “Because if The Grey Man gets to hear of this, you are a dead man. I heard about a team five years ago who tried the same thing, ex-KGB, ex-CIA, the works, they had turned someone in The Firm to their point of view. They had the latest gadgets, latest intelligence and were very well funded, a dream team. Do you know what happened?”
Sir Thomas did not reply.
“No,” said John. “No one knows. They disappeared, to a man, every one of them, no trace. It was as if they had never been on this earth at all. In Russia two months later the head of the Mafia and two of his closest lieutenants were killed, all three had their heads blown clean off. That could be us for just having this conversation.”
“Yes, yes, but I have some news which changes everything. The Grey Man is going blind but does not know it. Any day now his sight will switch off. All I need you to do then is kill him for me.”
“Interesting,” said John. “And what about his two friends?”
“Oh, I think they need to go at the same time, don’t you?”
The two men walked in silence for some time then John said,
“What will you pay me?”
“Yes, I thought we would get to that quite quickly and knowing you, I felt I needed to be very clear, a sort of carrot and stick arrangement. First let’s examine the stick. Last year after paying your overheads, houses, staff, bribes etc, you cleared personally two hundred and eighty one million pounds and secreted it into a number of bank accounts across Switzerland and the Caribbean. I can give you the account numbers and passwords if you like.”
John Sea froze and the blood drained from his face. It was not exactly the figure but far too close for comfort.
“I can take this and the rest of your fortune and put them into the Crown’s bank. Thank you very much, that would make a very nice slush fund,” continued Sir Thomas. “I can also wrap up every sordid deal you have and if you stay in the UK, pass all the information to the police recommending you went to prison for a minimum of twenty five years, then ensure I choose which prison and which little friends are there for you to play with. You are still an attractive man and I am sure they would find you very interesting. If you decided to run I will have you hunted down, you will be horribly tortured until you break and then I will have you killed.”
All this was said with his quiet cultured voice and a smile.
John Sea broke out in a cold sweat. “And the carrot?”
“Ah,” said Sir Thomas. “This is much better. Your operation in Manchester is very impressive and causes little waves with the police. I can give you full intelligence on London, everything you need on the dark side of life, every gang leader, every extortionist, every pimp and pave the way for you to expand here. I am sure you will agree this is a much bigger prize, add in a little service every now and again for The Firm and you get a free ‘Get out of Prison’ card. What do you say?”
There was a short pause. “I would be delighted,” said John Sea and the two men shook hands.
Sir Thomas waved his other hand and one of the black suited bodyguards sprung forward with a suitcase which he handed to John Sea.
“Inside the case is everything you need. Full details on where the Surgeon and The Assassin are living. They are quite predictable at the moment. The Surgeon is putting down roots and looks to have left our world behind completely, he should be an easy target. The Assassin is dabbling with some freelance work but has a son and a shop which anchors him and makes him vulnerable. I would suggest minimum surveillance on both as these are seasoned operators so be careful, and please no bombs as they can become very tedious for me. Could you make it a simple mugging or robbery, I would be so grateful.”
> “The Grey Man’s latest base is also here and it has been incredibly difficult finding it without him knowing. I do not have to tell you he is very dangerous and will sense any one sniffing around. I strongly suggest you go nowhere near until you get my signal but base your men close, able to react very quickly. It will either be that he does not check in on line one morning, which he does everyday rain or shine, or he will call into The Firm with his problem. Either way I will be alerted and I suggest you go in all guns blazing. Just make sure he is dead.”
Sir Thomas then walked away. The Mercedes pulled up and he was in and gone like a flash. The rest of the black suited men disappeared like a mist and John Sea found himself alone in a sea of tourists gazing up at the Houses of Parliament. He got out his phone and called up the Bentley which was circling the block. As he got in he instructed the driver to drive home and over the next three hours read the contents of the case again and again. He knew that what he was about to do would change his life fundamentally. Or end it.
The next morning he called a meeting with his enforcer, Keith Poole.
“We have a problem,” he said. “I need to do some work for Sir Thomas Robertson.”
“Okay,” said Keith. “What gives?”
“I need you to kill three people and kidnap a fourth.”
“No problem,” replied Keith, a big grin spreading over his face. “Lovely.”
John Sea opened the suitcase and lay down the folders he got from Sir Thomas. He spread out the three pictures and Keith started to laugh.
“Are you sure we cannot wait a few months so they can die of old age?”
John Sea looked at Keith hard. “Let’s be very clear. These three men have been the best of the best for three decades.” Pointing at The Assassin and The Surgeon he continued, “These two have killed and broken more men than you have had hot dinners.”
Pointing to The Grey Man he said, “This man runs an intelligence service the like of which does not exist anywhere else in the world. He has the power to move mountains. If you underestimate any one of these, we are dead. Do you understand?”
“Sure, Sure,” said Keith. “No problem. I will only use the best and make it my personal responsibility.”
“Okay,” said John Sea. “Let’s start with The Grey Man. He specializes in information gathering, analysis and strategy. He helped build the infrastructure of the current security service and has access to a level of resources that are truly mind blowing.”
John Sea was very careful not to mention the name, ‘The Firm’. Some secrets he liked to keep to himself. “He is an electronic wizard,” he continued. “Anywhere he lays his hat he alarms up like Fort Knox. He will know you are coming before you get there so speed is essential. He moves from safe house to safe house around every six to eighteen months and operates off the grid at all times, new identities, new credit cards, new phones, the guy is untraceable. If he does not want to be found you won’t find him. He also has a control on the internet that you would not believe. Any mention of him, any attempt at trying to track him and the world will fall on you like doomsday. We are just lucky that Sir Thomas has him pegged.”
“So how do we get to him?” Keith asked.
“He has a small problem that he is not aware of. He is going blind. From what I am told it will not come on gradually, his sight will simply switch off. What I want to do is this. Find a base, a farmhouse similar to the one The Grey Man is staying in, no closer than five miles from his address. I want your best men split into two groups, doing twelve hour shifts. I want that place stormed over and over again until they can do it blindfolded.”
“You can see from this layout each of the rooms and possible hiding places,” continued John Sea as he showed a schematic from the file of The Grey Man’s house. “Get your guys to memorize every detail, every facet until you get the word from me. When you do, I want his place ripped apart. Each guy is to have a machine gun, grenades, whatever it takes. I want The Grey Man dead. Is that clear?”
“Sure, sure,” said Keith. “Trust me. It will be Armageddon.”
“Now let’s discuss The Surgeon,” said John Sea.
The file was opened and Keith could see Surge’s picture. “Okay, this guy is a legend. An unarmed combat specialist, he teaches the top operatives, commandos, special forces, spooks, CIA, MI5, you name it. He was definitely not a man to get into a fight with.”
“However, a few years ago he overstepped the mark in Ireland and got beaten to within an inch of his life. Since then he has only had one professional job, last year helping to avenge The Assassin’s wife that also ended up with him in hospital, so he is not what he was but still looks dangerous.”
“Each day he runs through the town where he lives and up through this circuit,” John Sea explained, pointing at a map. “Have a few armed men meet him, take him down an alley and cut his throat. Make it looks like a mugging gone wrong if you can, I do not want any witnesses. Okay?”
“Sure,” said Keith. “Easy. No problem. I have a really good team that can handle this, lots of experience, top pros.”
“Okay. Now for Collins, The Assassin. This guy is really dangerous. He has been killing people for thirty plus years and is a master, possibly the best there ever was. His favourite weapon is a pistol but apparently he is very deadly with any weapon. He never misses.”
“However, he has become old and a creature of habit which is always dangerous. He lives here,” John Sea said pointing to a picture of an old, detached house in the south of London with a front garden surrounded by a tall hedge and a narrow path to the front door.
“Get a team of three together, your best. One in the car, one shooter, one back up. Do not fuck about with this one. I want heavy artillery. Get him to open the door then blow him away. Nothing left.”
“No problem. And you mentioned a kidnap?”
“Collins, The Assassin, has a son, Jonathan, who works in the family shop,” said John Sea. “Last year he ran around with The Grey Man and might have some information about the security infrastructure The Grey Man was working on. I am very interested in learning more. Also if anything goes wrong I want leverage. I do not want those bastards hunting me without an edge. I want you personally to take care of this. Take a couple of the boys, go to the shop and persuade this little shit to take a ride with you. Bring him here for a chat. Get this all in place and let me know when you are ready to go. Keep discreet eyes on the Surgeon and The Assassin and keep all channels open. Okay?”
“What about everything else that’s going on?”
“Trust me. This takes precedence over everything. One wrong move and there is nothing else.”
“Budget?” Keith asked.
“Unlimited. Whatever it takes.”
Chapter 10
Surveillance
Keith Poole woke the next morning in his large apartment at the golf course overlooking the eighteenth hole. The room was tastefully furnished in a modern steel and glass way, with a Scandinavian theme, minimalist, with low furniture and clean lines. There was no feeling of home or warmth. There were no personal effects anywhere in the room. It was smart, functional and had the atmosphere of a hotel suite.
He worked out for an hour in his personal gym then showered, dressed and sat at the large writing table with a big cup of coffee and thought the problem through. As an enforcer, his job was pretty simple. It was a lot of intimidation, threats and occasional violence. Mainly it was fronting John Sea’s organisation and that with his height, build and reputation was enough to ensure most villains complied with whatever he wanted. Only a few times in his career had he killed anyone and those he had done with his bare hands. He had done a stint in the army so had familiarity with weapons but in the last ten years had not had cause to carry one nor did he like them. Not to mention the fact that anyone in the UK found in possession of a firearm would face prison so it was normally not worth the risk.
He went through his assets. His overall command was a small army of thugs
and petty criminals but this job was too specialised for most of them. He then worked through his close team, his day to day support, ticking them off one by one, all good guys, big and tough and ready to do what was asked of them.
He had two guys that John Sea had recommended a few years ago that had never let him down. Ex-spooks, these were the watchers and information gathers and were an easy slot to scope out The Assassin and The Surgeon.
Dispensing with The Surgeon, he felt was easy. An over-the-hill tough guy should not be too hard to stop no matter what his reputation was. There were two brothers, born in Russia but who spoke perfect English and worked on this kind of thing. Big and powerful, individually they were highly dangerous, together they were unbeatable. They normally worked with a little Scottish guy who was great with a knife. As a team they were very reliable.
“These three for one middle-aged has-been was more than enough,” thought Keith.
For The Assassin it was a little more complex. He was undoubtedly armed and it could get very dangerous. Keith knew a couple of guys who freelanced, ex- terrorists who liked money more than the cause. He would put feelers out tomorrow. They lived in Marseille, France. They could fly in, do the job and disappear.
The biggest worry was The Grey Man. Storming a house with all guns blazing was a difficult thing, even though it looked easy in the movies. The chances of shooting and killing each other were high. It had to be mercenaries and they were not easy to find, especially ones willing to work in the UK, also time was not on his side.
To Kill a Grey Man Page 5